The first thing you need to do as you begin your NetWare 6.5 journey is to
briefly look at the historical roots of NetWare 6.5. You will look at some of
the new features of NetWare 6.5 and how Novell has classified some of these
features and services. Then you will see how NetWare works with other operating
systems. For example, you will learn which systems can function as a NetWare
client and which can function as a server in a NetWare 6.5 network environment.
Let the journey begin!

NOTE

The first objective in this chapter is the only one that is not on the list
of official test objectives. The content for this section is covered in the
Novell authorized courseware under the objective "Identify NetWare 6.5
Features." The material covered in this section is on the exam, so
don’t overlook it.

A Brief History of the NetWare Operating System

Novell NetWare has a long and winding history. From the early 1980s on,
NetWare has gone through many version upgrades. It is beyond the scope of this
book to go all the way back to the early days of NetWare, when it was called
ShareNet or S-Net. The versions that are of interest to you, as you prepare for
the exam, start with NetWare 3. The versions, their major features and services,
and their importance are covered in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1 A Brief History of NetWare

NetWare Version

Features and Services

NetWare 3.x, including the following versions:

NetWare 3.0

NetWare 3.11

NetWare 3.12

NetWare 3.2

NetWare 3.0 shipped in the fall of 1989. With the release of 3.11, NetWare
became a full 32-bit operating system that supported NetWare Loadable Modules
(NLMs). NetWare 3.x primarily provided file and print services.

NetWare 3.x stored user accounts in the bindery, which is a
flat-file database that is stored on each server.

The bindery was made up of three files:

NET$OBJ.DAT

NET$PROP.DAT

NET$VAL.DAT

The only objects you would see in the bindery, when working in the SYSCON
management utility, would be users, groups, printers, print servers, and print
queues.

Users had to log in to each server that they wanted to access. The process
was to log in to the first server and attach to the second and
subsequent servers.

Rights assignments, also known as Trustee assignments, were made to users and
groups. A group EVERYONE existed when you wanted to grant rights to all
users in the bindery.

NetWare 4.x, including the following versions:

NetWare 4.0

NetWare 4.10

NetWare 4.11

IntraNetWare

NetWare 4.2

NetWare 4.0 was introduced in early 1993. NetWare 4.x offered the same file
and print services that were the mainstay of NetWare 3.x. NetWare 4.x supported
up to 1,000 users, with licenses becoming additive with the release of NetWare
4.10.

Novell Directory Services (NDS) was introduced with NetWare 4. NDS
is a directory naming service. It keeps track of all network resources through a
hierarchical, relational database that is distributed and loosely consistent.
Many consider it the main network service provided by NetWare 4.x. It is the
precursor to the current directory service called eDirectory.

With NDS, users no longer logged in to a server, but to a tree. After they
were authenticated, based on the rights assigned, users could access all network
resources available to them in the tree. It no longer mattered which server an
application, service, or resource was on. If a tree had 10 servers installed, a
user could potentially access all 10 servers if the appropriate rights were
assigned.

The three major components of NDS were objects, properties, and values.

With NetWare 4.x and NDS, the directory was not housed on a single server.
The directory, through the processes of partitioning and replication, was
distributed to strategically placed servers throughout the tree. This provided a
degree of fault tolerance.

NetWare 4.x also provided enhanced TCP/IP and Macintosh support.

In 1996, IntraNetWare was released, enhancing the network capabilities
available with NetWare 4.11. The primary enhancements were the capability to
function as a Web server, FTP server, router, Internetwork Packet
Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/IP) gateway, and application launcher.
NAL (NetWare Application Launcher) was the precursor to the modern-day ZENworks
for Desktops.

NetWare 5.x, including the

following versions:

NetWare 5.0

NetWare 5.1

In the late 1990s, NetWare 5.0 was released. Up until NetWare 5.0, NetWare was primarily a network operating system that used IPX/SPX.-The main reason behind this was that NetWare before NetWare 5 was considered
a LAN operating system. With the release of NetWare 5.0, a native TCP/IP
protocol stack was made available with the core operating system. This
enabled NetWare to shed its LAN chains and move into the world of WANs. IPX/SPX
was still available, but Novell encouraged its customers to migrate to TCP/IP.
For those who could not, two strategies were made available:

Both IP and IPX stacks could be used simultaneously.

A Compatibility Mode Driver, with a Migration Agent, was made
available for those who were transitioning from IPX to IP.

NetWare 5.x, using the native TCP/IP stack, enhanced its capabilities by
including a Web server, FTP server, NNTP server, and the capability to function
as a DNS/DHCP server.

NetWare 6.x, including the following versions:

NetWare 6.0

NetWare 6.5

With the release of NetWare 6.0, Novell has begun its move toward OneNet,
anytime, anywhere access to networked resources, regardless of the operating
system platform.

With NetWare 6, Novell also began its entrance into the world of open source
services and applications.

One of the main features and services introduced with NetWare 6 is eDirectory
and the multitude of platforms that it can work on. eDirectory is the successor
to NDS, introduced with NetWare 4. eDirectory is more mature and robust than its
predecessors, and it still provides centralized administration of network
resources through a distributed, replicated directory.

CAUTION

Table 2.1 includes a great deal of information. All of it is relevant to your
understanding, but of particular interest to you should be three facts: when NDS
was introduced; what existed before NDS; and when TCP/IP was introduced as a
native protocol.

Now that this chapter has explored some of NetWare’s history, it will
examine the new features and services introduced with NetWare 6.5.